Asian Heritage Month Film Series: "The Opium War"

The Opium War is a 1997 Chinese historical epic film directed by Xie Jin.  The winner of the 1997 Golden Rooster and 1998 Hundred Flowers Awards for Best Picture, the film tells the story of the First Opium War of 1839-1842, which was fought between the Qing Empire of China and the British Empire.  The First Opium War arose from Qing Emperor Daoguang (Min Suy’s) decision to put an end to the opium trade, a hugely profitable commerce through which the British sought to recapture the silver they spent on Chinese goods by smuggling in the drug from India and encouraging widespread addiction among the Chinese.

After the burning of 20,000 boxes of opium by the Chinese, England declares war, because the burned opium was the property of the British commercial attaché who had bought it from the British merchants.  The film was released to coincide with the Hong Kong handover in July 1997